Thickness Gauging in Ravenna: Offshore Support, Bulk and Repair Quays

Inspection services for ships at Ravenna

Each service has its own page with the method, the class requirements and what the report contains.

Where gauging happens in Ravenna: repair quays, canal berths and offshore bases

Ravenna has the strongest repair infrastructure of the northern Adriatic ports covered here. Yards on the canal handle dockings, steel renewal and refits, with floating docks and repair quays used by merchant and offshore ships, and a ship in the yard has hull plating exposed, tanks open and scaffolding in place. We can gauge at the start of the repair period to confirm the work list, during the job to check renewed steel, or at the end for the close-out file. The yard sets access rules, hot-work limits and permit procedures, and the superintendent arranges them with us in advance.

Away from the yards, canal berths suit cargo-stop gauging. Bulk carriers can be measured after discharge, steel carriers between loadings, and chemical ships at berths subject to terminal rules, which restrict entry to cargo tanks. Offshore supply vessels lie at quays used as support bases, where hulls, tanks and deck areas can be measured while the ship waits for a contract. Anchorage outside Porto Corsini is available for ships waiting for a berth, where an owner's condition check is possible when sea conditions allow.

• Repair yards on the Candiano canal — hull plating, ballast tanks and deck structure gauged during docking, before, during or after steel renewal
• Floating dock and repair quays — shell and bottom plating of coasters, offshore vessels and workboats once surfaces are cleaned
• Bulk quays — hold frames, tank tops, hatch covers and coamings on cereal, fertiliser and raw material carriers after discharge
• Steel and multipurpose quays — deck and hatch cover structure on steel carriers and general cargo ships between loading windows
• Offshore support quays — hull, tank and deck gauging of supply vessels and workboats during idle periods between contracts
• Anchorage off Porto Corsini — condition checks on ships waiting for a berth or laid up, by launch through the agent

Port state control and regulation for Ravenna's repair and offshore trades

Port state control in Ravenna is carried out by the Italian Coast Guard through the harbour master (Capitaneria di Porto), under the Paris MoU. Bulk carriers fall under ESP, and class surveyors decide what readings each survey needs, so a ship in a Ravenna yard often has the class surveyor and the gauging team working in the same tanks. Offshore vessels follow their class and flag requirements, and offshore charterers add their own vetting of structural condition, so a recent set of readings is a common request before a contract.

Wider rules shape demand as well. The EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires an Inventory of Hazardous Materials on ships calling at EU ports, and repair and conversion work in the yards is increasingly planned with the inventory in view. EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime influence decisions about older ships, since reduced efficiency and rising running cost tilt the balance towards sale or recycling. In the offshore sector, projects for energy transition, such as carbon storage and wind support, bring new vessel types to the base, and owners entering that work want credible steel records.

Since 1 May 2025 the whole Mediterranean has been a sulphur emission control area, so ships calling at Ravenna burn 0.10% sulphur fuel or run a scrubber. Scrubber wash-water piping, the overboard discharge and the hull penetration around it corrode quickly in service and are worth adding to the gauging scope at every docking.

How a thickness measurement job runs at Ravenna

Most of the work on a Ravenna job happens before the team boards: scope, plan and access are settled first, so the time on board goes on measurement.

Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport is the usual entry point and is connected to Ravenna by road and rail, while Forli airport is closer but has fewer flights. The ship's agent, or the yard for ships under repair, arranges ISPS access and any permit needed for hot-work areas and docks. Our technicians are Indian nationals travelling on Schengen visas, so we begin the application when the job is confirmed and book flights once the yard slot or the quay date is firm. Yard stays allow more notice than cargo stops.

• Send the vessel name or IMO number, ship type, class society, the survey due (annual, intermediate, renewal survey number, CAP or owner's condition survey), the port and dates, and the scope you expect.
• We confirm the scope against the class rules for that survey, prepare the thickness measurement plan with frame and section references, and say whether the measurement will be credited to a class survey.
• Mobilisation is planned around visa lead times and the vessel's schedule; the ship's agent arranges port access, and the yard or ship arranges staging, lighting, ventilation and gas-free certificates.
• Gauging with calibrated ultrasonic thickness gauges: through sound coatings only where the gauge's through-coating mode has been verified on a coated reference, otherwise on cleaned bare steel, with every reading tied to its frame, strake and location on the sketch.
• Readings are compared with original thicknesses as work proceeds; substantial and excessive corrosion and any cracks are reported to the attending surveyor and the superintendent the same day.
• The final report is issued on the class thickness-measurement formats with sketches, a summary of locations exceeding the allowable margins, piping tables where piping was in scope, and the gauge calibration and technician certificates.

Related